been vs gone

The round trip test

Ask a single question: is the person back?

• Back → been: I've been to the dentist. (I'm here, telling you about it.)
• Still away → gone: She's gone to the dentist. (She's not here.)

This is why "I've gone to the shops" is almost never something you can say out loud — if you're there to say it, you've come back. It works only in a note left on the table.

Been for life experience

When you're talking about whether something has ever happened, been is the form:

• Have you ever been to Japan?
• We've been to that restaurant three times.
• He's never been abroad.

A dialect note worth knowing: British English uses been for this experience sense almost without exception, while American speakers sometimes use gone — "Have you ever gone skiing?" is unremarkable in the US. In British writing, stick with been.

Been is also the past participle of "be"

Half of been's work has nothing to do with travel at all. It's what be turns into after have:

• She has been ill all week.
• It's been a long day.
• They had been friends for years.

Gone can never fill these slots, because gone comes from go.

Gone as a plain adjective

Gone often behaves like an adjective meaning absent or used up: The milk's gone. All the tickets were gone by lunchtime. He's been gone for hours. That last example uses both words at once, and it's correct — been from be, gone describing his state.

The mistake to avoid

Don't put been or gone on their own without an auxiliary. "I been there" and "She gone home" are non-standard in writing; you need have, has or had in front. And for a simple past with no auxiliary, the word is went: I went there last year.

Quick reference

• Where have you been? — you're back now, so: what did you get up to?
• Where has he gone? — he's still away: which place is he at?